International education
The militarisation of schools in Brazil By Fátima da Silva General secretary, National Education Workers’ Confederation (CNTE/Brazil)
The election of Jair Bolsonaro as president of Brazil in 2018 led not only to a process of deregulating the economy, but it also brought with it a new educational agenda for the country. Despite already existing in different ways before his election, the standard bearers of what is known as the “Schools without Political Parties” movement, in favour of the militarisation of schools, gained strength and national political coordination when Bolsonaro came to power. The “Schools without Political Parties” movement aims to counter what was said to be “political, ideological and religious indoctrination”, supposedly practised in educational institutions by Brazilian teachers. Firmly rooted in a vision that denies history1, this movement focuses on accusing and persecuting members of the teaching profession, accusing them of being communists, preachers of atheism and what they agreed to call “gender ideology”, a term that was created by neoconservatives who try, no matter the cost, to ban any type of debate on gender studies and related issues such as feminism. The movement suffered a serious setback in August 2020, when the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled that a law banning schools from discussing issues related to gender and sexuality in the classroom was unconstitutional. This legal victory for Brazilian education created important jurisprudence in the largest legal court in Brazil, dissuading others from presenting similar legislative bills. Following this defeat, the main priority for Bolsonaro’s education program was to focus on militarising schools. 22
Western Teacher
October 2021
Background and current situation The project, which we are calling the “militarisation of schools”, is not a reference to the military education institutions which essentially provide education to the sons and daughters of the armed forces. The process of militarisation in schools to which we are referring is a government effort to transfer the administrative and pedagogical management of Brazil’s 180,000 public, civilian schools to the armed forces. As from his first day in office, through the Ministry of Education, Bolsonaro created the Sub-secretariat for Promoting Civilian-Military Schools, the director of which was a lieutenant colonel for the Brazilian army. The process to militarise Brazilian schools, which is already underway in many states and municipalities that have taken the initiative to do so, has regained momentum with this political signal, and the very term “civilian-military schools” is now being used in many Brazilian cities following initiatives to militarise education. In July 2019, the Ministry of Education launched the “National Commitment to Basic Education”, with the aim of, amongst other priorities for basic education in Brazil, establishing 180 civilian-military schools in every state of the Brazilian Federation by 2023. Following the Brazilian education sector’s opposition to it, in September 2019, the government, through the General Secretariat of the Presidency, created the National Programme for Civilian-Military schools (PECIM) which subnational, federated entities could volunteer to join. The financial support given to states and municipalities2, through the Ministry of
Defence, and the lack of public resources for education faced by states and municipalities, meant that fifteen of the Federation’s states joined the program. In 2020, 54 schools in 23 of the 27 states of the Federation became part of the pilot project. Society’s support for the pilot project is even increasing in the private education sector in Brazil, with the creation of private military schools. Run by former members of the police force, reserve officers of the Brazilian army, and even civilian businesspeople, luring families in by stating there is a need for more “discipline” in educational processes, private teaching institutions with military discipline are proliferating in different Brazilian states.
Violation of national legislation and educational development In the country of (famous Brazilian educator) Paulo Freire, the subversion of education, through the military appropriation of teaching, is happening at an alarming rate, ignoring the very legal order that regulates Brazil’s education system. The fundamental principles of the Brazilian Constitution, which advocate for access to and continued enrolment in schools on an equal footing, have been blatantly ignored by these militarised institutions. The spread of a militarised education system has also led to problematic students being expelled because they have not adjusted to the rules imposed. Furthermore, this has become an obstacle to the principle of equality in learning, teaching, researching and disseminating critical thinking, the arts and knowledge.
